Foundation form spacer and sill fastener



Jan. 21, 1969 w, ms u s 3,422,585

FOUNDATION FORM SPACER AND SILL FASTENER Filed July 24, 1967 1 "Alia" INVENTOR WAYNE K. DISMUKES ATTORNEY United States Patent Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE This combination spacer and fastener includes a pair of metal strips which are adapted to be imbedded in a concrete foundation. Each strip has a U-shaped portion which is fitted into a pair of slots in a cross member. One of the legs of the U provides shoulders which space the foundation form boards. The cross member has holes which allow the driving of nails into the foundation form boards to hold them in place after alignment against the shoulders. The cross member is bent over the mud sill and nailed to it to hold the mud sill in place.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION This invention relates generally to the field of concrete form brackets and particularly to devices used in the fabrication of concrete foundations used in the construction of houses.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PRIOR ART Concrete foundations are widely used in home construction. The most common type of foundation construction utilizes a mud sill fastened to the foundation by bolts placed in the foundation before the concrete sets up. After the forms are removed a carpenter holds the plank to be utilized as a mud sill in approximate position on the foundation over the bolts and taps the plank with a hammer in the region of each bolt. The plank is then turned over and holes are drilled where each bolt has left its mark. Needless to say, this is an approximate method of locating the bolt holes at the very best. Furthermore it is time consuming and requires several tools.

Another problem associated with the construction of concrete foundations arises with respect to the positioning of the form boards. The thickness of the foundation must not be less than the minimum dimension allowed by the building code and deviations above the desired value result in additional expense due to the excessive amount of concrete required to fill the forms.

Various approaches to these two problems have been attempted. The problems of spacing the form boards has received greater attention than the problem of fastening the mud sill. A wide variety of brackets, spacers and the like have been devised to accurately position the form boards used in the fabrication of concrete walls and foundations. In the more common situation, such spacers serve no useful purpose after the foundation has been poured. Some spacers do exist which contain holes for the attachment of furring strips on the side of the foundation but these are not adaptable to the attachment of mud sills.

Other devices exist for the purpose of fastening the mud sill to the foundation with a minimum of effort. These devices suffer from the defect that they offer an insufficient advantage either in ultimate cost of the structure being constructed or they are diificult to use. Additionally, they do not materially assist in the alignment or spacing of the form boards and may even constitute a hindrance to this phase of the operation.

The inadequacy of the prior art device similar to the device of this invention is established by the fact that the archaic nut and bolt fashion of fastening the mud sill is still the most common method of construction.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention provides a device which operates to space the foundation form boards and, after the form boards have been removed, can be used to fasten the mud sill to the foundation with the use of only a hammer and saw. This dual function is accomplished without compromising the construction process either with regard to quality or difiiculty. Indeed, both the quality and ease of fabrication are substantially improved. These features are provided by a fixture which contains two elements to be imbedded in the concrete foundation. These elements fit into spaced holes in a third element. Portions of the first two elements are used to provide shoulders to align the foundation form boards at a distance determined by the distance between the holes on the third element. When the foundation form boards are removed, the mud sill is laid on top of the foundation where it is to be fastened. The third elements are then bent up and over the mud sill and affixed to the mud sill with nails.

It is therefore an object of this invention to provide a combination foundation form spacer and mud sill fastener.

It is another object of this invention to provide a mud sill fastener which may be used without the requirement for power tools to achieve rapid installation.

Still another object of this invention is to provide a foundation form spacer which does not have to be disassembled when the foundation form boards are removed.

A still further object of this invention is to provide a form spacer and mud sill fastener which holds the mud sill to the foundation in a manner superior to the conventional nut and bolt fastener.

The foregoing and other objects, features and advantages of this invention will be apparent from the following more particular description of the invention as illustrated in the accompanying drawings.

DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIGURE 1 is a perspective view of the device of this invention.

FIGURE 2 is a perspective view of a foundation form with the device of this invention in place.

FIGURE 3 is a sectional view along the lines II in FIGURE 2.

FIGURE 4 is a perspective view of a completed foundation with the mud sill held in place with the device of this invention.

FIGURE 5 is a sectional view along the lines IIII in FIGURE 4.

FIGURE 6 is a modified version of one element of the invention.

DESCRIPTIONS OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT The combination foundation form spacer and mud sill fastener as shown in FIGURE 1 includes a cross member 10 and a pair of tie members 11 and 12. All three members may be constructed of a mild steel or other suitable material. In the event that steel is used it may be desirable to coat the cross member 10 with a suitable corrosion preventative such as paint or a galvanize dip. Cross member 10 has two pairs of slots 13, 14, and 15, 16. The spacing between slots 13 and 16 corresponds to the desired thickness of the foundation. This may be any desired distance but in the case of residential foundations will generally be six inches. The spacing between slots 13 and 14 is the same as between slots 15 and 16. A satisfactory distance for the separation between the slots has been found to be one inch where the dimension between the outrnost slots is six inches. There are a number of complementary pairs of nail holes 17-18, 19-20, and 21-22 which exist in the cross member 10. The function of the nail holes will be described later.

Each tie member 11 and 12 has a generally U-shaped portion 23 and 24 at one end. The distance between the legs of the U corresponding to the separation between the slots 13-14 and 15-16, approximately one inch. The opposite ends 25 and 26 of tie members 11 and 12 are bent to form an angle. This angle is not critical and may even be omitted entirely in some situations. The function of the bent portions 25 and 26 is to improve the holding power of the members 11 and 12 when they are imbedded in the concrete foundation.

FIGURE 2 is illustrative of the device of FIGURE 1 as it is utilized to position the boards of a foundation form at the desired separation from each other. The cross members are affixed to the foundation form boards 27 by suitable means such as double headed nails 28 which pass through holes 21 and 22. Stakes 29 and 30 are nailed to form boards 27 and anchor the entire form to the ground in conventional fashion.

FIGURE 3 is a sectional view along the line 1-1 of FIGURE 2 for the purpose of illustrating the manner in which the shoulder portions 31 and 32 of tie members 11 and 12 operate to maintain the correct spacing of the form boards 27. The shoulder portions 31 and 32 abut form boards 27 and prevent them from moving too close together. The double headed nails 28 are used to fix the form boards at the correct distance as determined by the shoulder portions 31 and 32.

In the preferred procedure for installation, cross member 10 is fastened to one or the other of form boards 27, with shoulder portion 31 against the form board, by means of double headed nails 28. The form board on the opposite side is then pushed up against the shoulder portion 32 to obtain the correct spacing, as determined by the distance between slots 13 and 16, and the second form board is then nailed in place.

The concrete is then poured in the usual manner. The upper surface of the foundation is easily finished to accommodate the mud sill since there is nothing to obstruct the finishing tools. The only element which crosses the top of the foundation is the cross member 10 and this is very thin in comparison to the usual form holders.

When the concrete has hardened and the forms are ready for removal, double headed nails 28 are easily withdrawn. This permits form boards 27 to be separated from the foundation. The cross members 10 now lie fiat across the top of the concrete foundation. The lower portions of tie members 11 and 12 are imbedded in the foundation to securely fasten the assembly.

The mud sill 34 is then placed on top of the foundation in the position shown in FIGURE 4. With the mud sill 34 positioned in the desired location, cross members 10 may be bent upwardly around the mud sill to permit the nails 35 to be driven through holes 17 and 18 to hold mud sill 34 in the correct lateral position on top of foundation 33. The bending can be accomplished by simple hand tools such as a hammer. When nails 35 have been driven on both sides of the mud sill 34, the remaining portion of cross member 10 is bent across the top of mud sill 34 and nails 36 are driven through holes 19 and 20 in cross member 10.

FIGURE 5 is a sectional view along the line IIII of FIGURE 4. Lateral movement of mud sill 34 is prevented by the vertical portions of cross member 10. Similarly, vertical movement of mud sill 34 is prevented by the horizontal extremities of cross member 10.

It is to be noted that the entire installation may be speedily and accurately accomplished without the necessity for locating and drilling a number of holes as is required for the conventional nut and bolt installation. This results in a substantial saving of time and expense.

While the most common form of residential construction requires a 6 inch foundation thickness, and therefore a 6 inch spacing between slots 13 and 16, it is the usual practice to reduce the thickness where the foundation load permits. As an example, the foundation thickness for residential garage is often set to 4 inches. The distance between slots 13 and 16 could then be fabricated with but two sizes of foundation form spacers and mud sill fasteners. Where the dimension between slots 13 and 16 is altered it may be desirable to'reduce the overall dimension of cross member 10. It is entirely possible that one cross member 10 can be provided with the appropriate slots so that it can be used for more than one foundation thickness. In that case, additional slots such as slots 37 and 38 shown in FIGURE 1, can be provided. The tie members 11 and 12 are now inserted in the slots 14-37 and 15-38. The distance between slots 14 and 15 now determines the thickness of the foundation. The spacing between slots 13 and 14 will be the same as the spacing between slots 14 and 37. Similarly, the distance between slots 15 and 16 willbe the same as the distance between slots 15 and 38. The same tie members '11 and 12 may therefore be used with either pair of slots.

Various configurations may be used without departing from the invention. For example, it has been suggested that additional slots 37 and 38 can be added where it is desired to use the invention for several foundation thicknesses. However, it will be appreciated that only one additional slot is required if it is not essential that symmetry be preserved. The essential functions of the device are retained even if symmetry is abandoned. Where the additional slots are used for the insertion of tie members 11 and 12, the unused slots 13 and 16 may be used to provide the holes for the insertion of the nails used to hold the mud sill 34 in the final position. A nail may be driven at both ends of the slot to prevent longitudinal movement of mud sill 34.

Ideally, the three elements of the invention are easily assembled at the construction site. This simplifies the shipping and storage requirements. It is to be noted that the cross member 10 is a completely flat element. This greatly reduces the problems associated with packaging and shipping the device. In the event that this is not a primary consideration, the shape of cross member 10 can be altered as shown by the dotted lines in FIGURE 1. The lip portion 39 extends at right angles to the original element. The ends of the lip portion 39 form a shoulder which has the same spacing as the shoulder portions 31 and 32. In this configuration greater latitude is allowable for the shape and position of the tie members 11 and 12 since they no longer function to determine the spacing of the form boards but merely anchor the device to the foundation 33.

Another modification can be made without departing from the invention. This modification utilizes an altered form of the tie members as shown in FIGURE 6. In the modified version, the short legs of Us 23 and 24 become the shoulder portions 31a and 32a. While this version has one less bend than the configuration of FIGURE 1 and is therefore less expensive, it has slightly less resistance against vertical pull on the mud sill. Since resistance to vertical pull is not a prime requisite due to the weight of the finished structure on the mud sill this alternative form may be desirable in some cases.

While the invention has been particularly shown and described with reference to preferred embodiments thereof, it will be understood by those skilled in the art that the foregoing and other changes in form and details may be made therein without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention.

What is claimed is:

1. A combination foundation form spacer and sill fastener comprising:

a cross member having a length greater than the thickness of the foundation,

first holes in said cross member having a distance therebetween permitting them to be used to fasten said cross member to the form boards used to pour a foundation,

a pair of tie members in engagement with said cross member intermediate said holes and disposed generally perpendicular to said cross member in a downward direction for imbedding in the foundation,

said device having a pair of shoulder portions,

the separation between the shoulder portions corresponding to the desired thickness of the foundation,

additional holes in said cross member,

said additional holes having a distance therebetween greater than the distance between said first holes, permitting them to be used in fastening said cross member to a sill.

2. A device according to claim 1 wherein;

said shoulder portions are formed by the outer extremities of a lip portion of said cross member bent downwardly toward said tie members.

3. A device according to claim 1 wherein the engagement between said tie members and said cross member is accomplished by means comprising;

first and second pairs of slots in said cross member,

said slots having a principal dimension perpendicular to the length of said cross member,

said tie members having a generally U-shaped bend at one end,

the distance between the legs of said U corresponding to the distance between said slots in one pair to permit the insertion of said tie members into said slots.

4. A device according to claim 3 wherein:

the length of said slots is the same as the width of said tie members and the width of said slots is the same as the thickness of said tie members to provide a force fit between said tie members and said cross member.

5. A device according to claim 3 wherein;

the outer leg of said U-shaped bends comprise said shoulder portions.

6. A device according to claim 5 wherein;

the distance between said outermost slots corresponds to the thickness of the foundation.

7. A device according to claim 1 wherein:

said shoulder portions are formed by portions of said tie members.

8. A device according to claim 1 wherein;

the length of said cross member is at least as great as the thickness of said foundation plus one and one half times the thickness of the sill.

9. A device according to claim 1 wherein;

the length of said cross member is at least as great as the thickness of said foundation plus four times the thickness of the sill.

10. A device according to claim 9 wherein;

said additional holes are spaced to permit nailing to both sides and the top of said sill when said cross member is bent upwardly and inwardly over said sill.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,423,991 7/1922 Brooks 52713 1,601,517 9/1926 Walkwitz 52713 1,649,407 11/1927 Isaacson 52714 2,013,101 9/1935 Inglee 52713 2,110,863 3/1938 Barnett 52699' 2,920,477 1/1960 Shaw 52300 FRANK L. ABBOTT, Primary Examiner.

I. L. RIDGILL, JR., Assistant Examiner.

US. Cl. X.R. 

